Federal Policy
Basics of the Most Significant Child Welfare Bill in a Decade
[from Children’s Monitor Online, Vol 21, Issue 33: 9/8/2008]
The Children’s Monitor has created a very simple explanation of the Congress Senate and House bills that may significantly improve the lives of foster youth. Read the simple brief.
The College Opportunity and Affordability Act
[from the September 2008 Casey Announcement]
On July 31, 2008, before its summer recess, Congress passed the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008 (H.R. 4137: H. Rept. 110-803). This marked the end of a ten-year effort to reauthorize the Higher Education Act and a five-year effort by Casey Family Programs to call special attention to youth in foster care. Several changes in the law affect youth in foster care and students earning their degrees in social work. The law makes it easier for youth in foster care to access federal programs such as TRIO and Gear Up, which help youth from disadvantaged backgrounds enter and succeed in college. It also expands programs to provide more targeted services for these youth, mirroring recommendations Casey made in 2003 in the policy paper Higher Education Reform: Incorporating the Needs of Foster Youth. The reauthorization also:
Provides new housing services for students who are (or were) homeless and those who are in (or are aging out of) foster care
Makes it easier for youth formerly in foster care (and who exit through guardianship, adoption or because they age out) to access federal financial aid by amending and clarifying the definition of independent student
Creates a new program that allows loan forgiveness for social workers who work for public or private child welfare agencies
President Bush signed the bill into law on August 15, 2008. Next, the Department of Education will create regulations for implementation. In addition, the new loan forgiveness program must be funded as part of the annual appropriations process. For more information, please contact Martin (Marty) McOmber.
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HR 3221)—LIHTC Exception for Students who previously received foster care
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 that Bush signed at the end of July included a section that added former foster youth to the list of exceptions for full-time students living in low income housing tax credit units. As of August 1st, full-time students who were previously in the foster care system will be able to reside in a tax credit unit.
Students Who Were Previously Under Foster Care (Section 3004(e))—The provision adds an exception to the general rule disallowing student housing. The exception permits units t be occupied by students who previously received foster care.
Effective Date—Effective for determinations after enactment.
This legislative fix should make the tax credit program a meaningful source of affordable/supportive housing for former foster youth, though this exception does not include other formerly homeless youth who are full-time students and who haven’t touched the foster care system.
Related posts:
- FEDERAL POLICY – HUD invites communities to apply for $20 Million in New Housing Voucher for Child Welfare Families and Aging-out Youth
- Federal Policy [from Child Welfare League of America Alert 9.23.08]
- Some Federal good news
- Lincoln, Kennedy Introduce Bill for Child Welfare Workforce Study
- FEDERAL POLICY – Stimulus Money in San Francisco
